James b



JQE. THOMSON.. a Mail-Look Label-Holder.

Patented June 8, 1880.

.Z'zeanmsw Y Inventar: ./G ZM/V /mM 15 fwm rLFETERs, FHOT0-LnHOGRAFRR, WASHINGTON, D c.

llwrrnn STATES ArtNr' Finca.

JAMES E. THOMSON, OF BUFFALO, NEW YORK.

MAIL-LOCK LABEL-HOLDER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 228,573, dated June 8, 1880. Appncanon ined April 13, leso. (Monti.)

-proved lock closed and secured by seals. Fig.

2 is a similar View of the lock open. Fig. 3 is a longitudinal section through line x, Fig. l. Fig. 4 shows the opposite side of the Government seal when the lock is secured and the mailbag ready for transportation. Fig. 5 represents the seals to be attached by the several mail-agents through whose hands the mail- -robbery was committed.

bag passes. Fig. 6 shows a specimen of the tag to be used. f

To enable others skilled in the art to make my invention, I will proceed to describe the exact manner in which I have carried it out.

It is a well-known fact that frequent depredations are committed on the United States mails, and vast sums oi' money are annually expended by the Post-Office Department in attempts to discover at what points ou the several routes the depredations are committed. Under the present system of securing` the mailbags, a mail leaving lashington city for Ghicago may be plundered en route, and there is no means of discovering the depreciation until the mail-bag is opened and examined in Chicago, and when discovered it is impossible to tell on what portion of the route the Hence detectives have to be employed along the entire route to detect, it' possible, the guilty parties.

To overcome this diiculty is the object of my present invention 5 and it consists in a lock of novel construction combined with a proper tag, and to which I am enabled to apply a sys tem ot' soft-metal seals, one to receive the Government impress, and a device marking the post-office from ,which the mail-bag is sent, andthe others to indicate the several mail messengers through whose hands the mail-bag may pass, all of which will be hereinafter fully explained.

Inthe drawings, A represents my mail-bag lock, composed of the two plates B B', pivoted together at b, so as to move snugly on the pivot in opening or closing the lock. The end of each plate is provided with the curved projection O, so constructed that when the outlines of the plates are coincident, as shown in Fig. l, the points ot' the curved projections will meet and form aclosed ring or eye, d. Through the opposite or loose end of the plates are the perforations D, D, and D. As many .ot1 these perforations are to be used as may be found necessary. l

Through perforation D is to be inserted the soft-metal seal used, and stamped or im pressed' at the post-office at which the mail is made up. This seal is represented in Fig. 4, and has on the one side the impression of any selected Government device. I have represented a shield to illustrate my system. This impression will be recognized throughout the postal serviceasone of authority. On the reverse side of this seal is indicated the post-office from. which the mail is sent. This is accomplished by means of two sets of figures, the one placed above the other. The States are to be represented, for instance, by the lower figures, and the particular ofee by the upper figures. We will suppose the State of New York to be represented by the ligure 8 (eight,) and the New York city post-office to be numbered l in that State. Then' all mail-bags sent from the New York post-office would be secured by a seal receiving the impression This would indicate with absolute certainty to everybody, everywhere, that this mailbag was made up and sealed iii the New York postoflice. Hence, when the mails are delivered in Chicago the postmaster can immediately see that there are so many bags from New York, so many from Washington city, and so on.

At present a postmaster cannot tell from what office the mailbag comes until he opens it and examines its contents, and hence much confusion arises in keeping an account of the number of bags of mailmatter received from the different ofliees. By my new system ot' seals this difficulty is avoided.

All mail-messengers on through-routes are to be known by a letter 'of the alphabet or other suitable device, that each may impress his individual seal therewith.

To illustrate the operation of my system:

Suppose a mail is made up in the New York post-office for Chicago. The lock is secured and receives the Government stamp-the shield upon the one side and g; on the other. rlhe mail-bag is delivered to the mail-messenger who carries it to Buifalo. He examines the Government seal and finds it all right. He then places a seal through perforation D, and stamps it with his letter, A, this letter of the alphabet representing this particularl messenger. At Bu'italo messenger A will transfer the mail-bag to messenger B, who is to carry it to Detroit. On receiving the mail-bag from messenger A messenger B can readily see if the seals are all perfect, or whether or not they have been tampered with. If the latter be the case he will immediately report the :fact to the department. If everything' is righiJ up to that point messenger B indorses the fact by placing a sea-l in perforation D" and impressing thereon his designating-letter, B, and at Detroit he delivers the mail-bag to messenger C, who, in turn, closely inspects the seals, and it' all right he carries them forward and delivers them at the Chicago post-office.

lt is evident from this description of my invention that a depredation upon a mailbag must soon be detected, and it will be known with absolute certainty on what portion of the route the depredation was committed.

In the face of plate B is a recess, E, just large enough to hold the tag F, the latter having imprinted on it the destination of the mail- 'the staple on the bag.

bag to which the look is attached. The plate B is provided with the slotted opening G, through which to see the address upon the tag when the lock is secured in position on the mail-bag by catching the curved projections in The projections are closed and the two plates brought together for sealing by one and the same movement, as the closing of the plates necessarily closes the projections upon the staple and secures the lock to the mail-bag.

I am aware that it is not new to apply a series of soft-metal seals to a locking device, and such is not my invention.

Having thus explained my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

l. The mai1-bag lock A, consisting of the pivoted plates B B', having the perfor-ations D D D, the recess E, and slotted opening G, and provided with the curved projections C, substantially as and for the purpose described.

2. rlhe pivoted plates B B, provided with the curved projections (l, and a receptacle, substantially as described, for a removable tag, whereby the closing of the plates secures the tag and the attaching device or ring d, for the purpose set forth.

JAS. E. THOMSON.

Vitnesses:

XV. F. MoRsELL, R. K. EVANS. 

